Are You Really Seeking Jesus?
By Pastor Paul Klusewicz
March 2, 2008

Who are you and why are you in church today? What’s it all about?

At times church can be very traditional, very habit forming, even superstitious to a degree. But, do we really know Christ and do we have a real relationship with the living God.

Revelation 1:16-19
“ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

The word angel means messenger, so your Pastor is the messenger of the church. Today’s message reminds us that the Lord knows we are busy at churches. He knows that many of us have titles and He also knows how we tend to be so very wrapped up in our titles and our works mentality that we tend to forget our first love-Jesus. We have our bible studies, our church dinners, our meetings and our handshakes, but have we lost our agape love-the love of Christ.

Luke 19:1-10 (NIV)
“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Jesus is about salvation. Jesus is the forgiver of our sins; He is the one who intercedes for us and reconciles us to the Lord. Zacchaeus was a man of much influence and affluence, but this did not bring him peace. How easy it is for us in America to lose our focus. We have so many material possessions that we forget about the real journey and how much true joy there is in the journey. We tend to base our spirituality on a checklist-I go to church; I go to prayer meetings; I go to bible studies. But once again we are challenged to answer the question, “Am I truly in a real relationship with the Lord?” It’s not about our health, it’s not about having a house, a car or any other possessions. In the words of Jesus, Luke 9:25 (NIV) “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

We need to seek Jesus on a constant basis. Are we hungry for God? Are we thirsty for God? Do we know how much we need the Living Water. We need to be pressing in and seeking God. The door is narrow. Lean into it and find the answer in Jesus. Revelation 3:20 (NIV) “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Find the love of your life in Jesus. We have seven days a week, twenty four hours a day-the Lord is giving us constant opportunities. God wants a relationship with you! God is doing great and miraculous things in this world. Don’t you want to see Jesus like Zacchaeus did? We all need personal relationships with Jesus. We need to push through and press on seeking God first. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Are we diligently seeking the Lord? Think about all the things we seek-relationships, jobs, sports, TV. Our primary diligence should be to seek God-there are no excuses. Stop getting lost in the minutia of the world and be desperate in seeking God. And if your church needs revival earnestly pray for it and seek it. And please come to church on Sunday and come out to prayer meeting on Wednesday nights. Come out and intercede for the lost. Cry out to Jesus. Seek Jesus and He will show you what He wants you to do each and every day.

Like Zacchaeus be radical if you have to; get undignified if you have to and run after Jesus.

Climb a tree if you need to! Run to worship Jesus. Run to your prayer closet and pray as long as you need to, as long as the Lord is calling you to do so. Let’s go to another level for Jesus. Let’s always be striving to get more into God. Let’s lay it all out before the Lord. Let’s surrender our problems to the Lord and know that in our climb Jesus has the answer. Go out on a limb and let Jesus be involved in every aspect of your life. Let’s allow Jesus to restore us. Let’s give it all to Jesus and let us be transformed by Jesus. We belong to Jesus. Let’s love one another and “love God with all our hearts, minds and souls.” AMEN